Research Grants Council hosts Workshop on Competitive Research Funding Schemes for Local Self-financing Degree Sector (with photos)

The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:

     The Research Grants Council (RGC) today (November 20) held a Workshop on the Competitive Research Funding Schemes for the Local Self-financing (SF) Degree Sector at the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, covering the RGC Faculty Development Scheme (FDS), the Inter-Institutional Development Scheme (IIDS), the Institutional Development Scheme (IDS) Collaborative Research Grant, and the IDS Research Infrastructure Grant. The event attracted close to 200 academics from 10 institutions in the SF education institution sector.

     Organised mainly for teaching and research staff from the SF education institution sector, the Workshop invited faculty members who had successfully obtained research grants to share their stories. The achievements of completed FDS projects were also featured at a poster session organised for the first time in parallel with the Workshop. The Chairman of the Assessment Panel of the Competitive Research Funding Schemes for the Local SF Degree Sector, Professor Julie Li, together with members of the Panel, also shared their observations on proposals in the latest round of exercise.

     The Chairman of the RGC, Professor Timothy W. Tong, said, "Being an important part of the Hong Kong academic research community, the SF education institution sector has been making noticeable contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the past decade. I am pleased to see that many of the funded projects have brought about remarkable research outputs and achievements, in particular in benefitting the progress and development of Hong Kong society.

     "The IDS Research Infrastructure Grant has catalysed capacity building within the SF education institutions by supporting various research infrastructure and facilities, such as research centres on healthcare, green business as well as children and youth. This year, for example, the RGC has supported a proposal for an education institution to set up a Caregiving Research and Development Centre, which was timely and relevant to Hong Kong's current social development. In addition, the IDS Collaborative Research Grant has encouraged and supported SF education institutions to conduct high-quality cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional collaborative research projects. Funded projects this year included research on the monitoring of construction tower cranes by artificial intelligence and detection of antibiotics in wastewater, which had high novelty and societal relevance.

     "Looking forward, the RGC will continue working alongside institutions and colleagues of the SF degree sector to promote excellence in Hong Kong's research culture and vibrancy of our research ecosystem."

     The Competitive Research Funding Schemes for the Local SF Degree Sector aim at developing the research capability of institutions and faculty members in the sector. Since the launch of the research funding schemes in 2013, the RGC has funded more than 800 projects with a total amount of more than $830 million.

     Details of the funding schemes are available on the RGC website:

FDS:
www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/fds/index.html;

IDS Collaborative Research Grant:
ww.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/ids_crg/index.html;

IDS Research Infrastructure Grant:
ww.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/ids_rig/index.html; and

IIDS:
www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/iids/index.html